For Medicinal Purposes Only
by Batcee
Summary: "You're unusually preoccupied tonight, Hyuga-san." Neji visits Sakura to get stitched up. LeeTen hints, but no solid pairings. Please read and review.


_A/N: Neji on my mind these days. Reposting a very old fic of mine with minor revisions. Please read and review._

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><p><strong>For Medicinal Purposes Only<strong>

"You're unusually preoccupied tonight, Hyuga-san."

Neji glanced up quickly at the woman who had commented while stitching up a nasty gash on his shoulder. His eyebrows narrowed with irritation, causing hers to rise slightly. It was just as unusual for him to show emotion around her (or anyone, really) as it was for him to be preoccupied while receiving medical treatment. Normally, he'd add in at least a word or two that would subtly insinuate somehow that she could be doing her job a lot better. He was quite the snob that way.

"Are you almost done?" Neji finally gathered his senses enough to spit at her. He turned his infamous icy glare on her, but she only laughed at it. If it were even possible, he went even more frigid.

"You've been unusually reckless today, Hyuga-san," she added mockingly, just to see how cold he would get before he realized that it wouldn't work. He would be better off trying fire on her, than ice.

"I didn't realize inane observations were part of medical check-ups," Neji shot back.

"Oh, but they are." She flashed him a smile that just had to kill him.

"Are you really this sick, Haruno, that you take pleasure in pain?"

Sakura's grinning mouth snapped closed, and he took smug pleasure in realizing that he won, combined with a sinking feeling that he couldn't quite name. He could sense that a line had been crossed, but chose to leave it at that. Today, he wasn't in the mood for the extraneous.

In a few brisk and slightly stinging minutes—he'd never liked the rubbing alcohol—she sealed the sticky tape over his bandage and stepped back with lowered eyes. "You're done," Sakura muttered and turned to put the scissors and extra gauze away.

He slid off the examining table like water and paused to watch her.

"Did Lee bring Tenten in earlier?" he asked gruffly. He had hesitated before he spoke, words stumbling out haltingly in a way that made him want to cringe. He sounded as uncertain as his cousin.

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to give him an odd look before turning away nervously. The hand holding the scissors shook as she seemingly tried to remember where to put them. He noticed the bare nails, and a long white scar running down her left thumb. "Yes," she finally stated, gently replacing the scissors in her hand for a nearby medical chart. She hummed softly, flipping through the folder. "It was just a fractured ankle. No training tomorrow, but other than that, she's fine."

Neji's frown set deeper into his jaw. "Tell Lee all that," he grunted as he grabbed his ANBU vest and walked towards the door. "I'm not her training partner anymore."

Much to his chagrin, he heard a giggle from the pink-haired nurse.

"What is your problem?" he snapped, the thin thread of his much tried patience wearing thinner.

"Nothing," Sakura answered, sobering so swiftly he wondered if she had some sort of psychiatric condition. She hadn't meant to laugh, but she always had had this awful penchant for smiling at inopportune times when she was feeling particularly strong, inappropriate feelings.

"Then stop being so strange," he ordered and stepped into the hallway.

"It's just, it feels odd doesn't it?" She found it compelling to pursue and he at least paused to hear her out. "You've been thrown off balance, right? I guess you didn't know until today. Maybe Lee was extra-protective on the battle field or something, is that it? And you finally figured it out?"

Though he was slightly insulted, before he could help it, he nodded. Lee had been hysterical when her ankle snapped. It was such an unfamiliar, surreal experience to watch him hover over his brunette teammate and watch her soothe him in a too intimate way.

"That's why you got hurt," Sakura continued softly.

"I was distracted," Neji shot back. "It will not happen again." And it wouldn't. Things of this nature were not worth getting killed over. He'd get over it and continue with his perfect ability to remain in control in any situation.

"All the same," Sakura conceded. "Right now, you feel as if something is not quite right, and you feel utterly away from your center. A little unhinged, even? Am I right?"

The only thing that kept him still was an immense amount of pride.

"What are you getting at, Haruno?" He understood where she was coming from, but he hardly wanted to sit around and lament about unhinged team dynamics. Though, if he were to go and search for an expert on the subject, it would be her.

"My shift is over, Hyuga," she smiled brightly. "Do you like coffee?" 

_.:You need to want to be well…:._


End file.
